Saturday, October 29, 2011

I remembered Dad telling me about this stall that sells delicious Peranakan economic rice in the Chinatown Complex food centre. He was asking me to join him to eat Peranakan food with sambal belachan at 9am in the morning. I think not man. Nonya economic rice in the morning just didn't resulted in a logical output from my brain's computation. Not that I'm one without any idiosyncrasies about my food, but No. I bluntly doused his enthusiasm to egg me on. However, having that for lunch was a different matter. That's why I was here at Babas Peranakan at Chinatown Complex food centre for lunch. Edwin Tan the boss of the stall was there serving the queue that formed. Most folks in the queue seemed to be in their 30s and 40s. I liked that as I thought folks in this age group have some sense of persistence about their quality of food.

Here's my plate of nonya economic rice at S$6. There's the big fried chicken drumstick that comes with the extra meaty chunk from the chicken thigh, a slice of Goreng Ikan Pedas (Deep fried mackerel with tumeric powder), some fried onion omelete and a heap of Sayur Lemak (Curried Vegetables). The fried chicken drumstick was really good. Savory golden brown skin and tender chicken meat inside. This is a generous portion. So, some ladies just ordered this drumstick with only vegetables to go with their rice. The Goreng Ikan Pedas was how I liked it . It was like how grandma used to cook it. The mackerel was cut up in sections, marinated in tumeric powder and then deep fried. Portions near to the tapering ends that forms the edges of the elliptical hole, where the fish stomach used to be, will be the crispy, salty and dry bits. The rest will have chunky juicy meat underneath the coat of golden brown savory exterior. I got my rice drizzled with assam sauce from the Assam Ikan Pedas that they served too. It made the meal more appetizing. The sambal belachan did it's work with the extra punch of spiciness.

Well I guess Dad was right. Babas Peranakan's economic rice rocks! But I'll still insist on having it during lunch and not breakfast, especially after a sweaty morning walk.